Weighing and sorting apparatus



Jan. 30, 1945. V v w. OWEN I WEIGHING AND SORTING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 8, 1942 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 k gum HIM WILL/6 M wzcw W. OWEN Filed Aug. 8, 1942 e Sheets-Sheet :5

I W/LL {AM OWE/V Jan. 30, 1945.

WEIGHING AND SORTING APPARATUS Jan. 30, 1945.

W. OWEN WEIGHING AND SORTING APPARATUS I 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Aug. 8, 1942 w. OWEN 2,368,321

Filed Aug. 8, 1942 4 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 P Kg.

' Jan. so, 1945.

WEIGHING AND SORTING APPARATUS Jan. 30, 1945. w. OWEN WEIGHING AND SORTING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 8, 1942 GSheets-Sheet 6 WM 3 0 M w m .L.. 0 I M u if 7, M y I M m M w. 0 2

Patented Jan. 30, 1945 WEIGHING AND SORTING APPARATUS William Owen, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to Pitts burgh Plate Glass Company, Allegheny County, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application August 8, 1942, Serial No. 454,171

7 Claims.

This invention relates to the sorting of articles according to weight and it has particular relation to an apparatus designed to differentiate between weights of relatively small articles and to sort them accordingly. 7

One object of the invention is to provide an improved arrangement of scale units and mechanism operable in connection therewith.

section of a dash pot included in the scale struction being taken approximately centrally of the 1 Another object of the invention is to provide I an improved apparatus for weighing articles and automatically classifying them in groups according to weight.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved automatic Weighing and sorting machine.

In one form of structure in which the invention described herein ha been incorporated, av

series of weighing scale units are arranged radially about a central revolving platform that has a plurality of arms design-ed to pass the location of an article-receiving pan or tray of each scale unit. The arms are disposed at different levels and the trays when supporting article of different weights are depressed to different levels. Accordingly a pan depressed to a given level by the weight of an article thereon will she in such position as to have its article pushed therefrom by an arm which has :been set to push off an article of a given weight. Containers are placed beneath each arm on the rotatable structure to receive the articles pushed from the scale pans by the arms. Each arm in successive revolutions about a central axis may push articles from any of the scale pans, but only if the weight on any particular scale pan is such as to position the latter so as to be brought to the level of the arm In this manner, a great number of articles can be wei hed and sorted by feeding the articles to the scale pans as fast-as they are pushed therefrom. This arrangement is well adapted to weigh and sort optical glass blanks which are relatively light in weight and must be sorted within very narrow limits of weight differences. However, it is apparent that the apparatus is applicable for weighing and sorting various types of articles,

In the drawings: Fig. 1 is a fragmentary plan of an apparatus designed according to the invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken substantially along the broken line II-II of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan of one of the scale units and cooperat ing mechanism; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary side elevation of the structure shown in Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a cross section taken substantially along the line V-V of Fig.- 3; Fig. 6 is a fragmentary vertical ture; Fig. 7 is a horizontal section taken'substantially along the line VII-VII of Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic fragmentary plan of another form of apparatus including an automatic feeder for the scales; Fig. '9 is a fragmentary vertical section of the apparatus shown in Fig.v 8, the secapparatus with portions of the top cover plate and the outer right hand portions of the supporting frame being omitted; Fig. 10 is a fragmentary perspective, on a larger scale, of a magazine feeder; Fig. 11 is a diagrammatic fragmentary plan of a structure through which articles are to be discharged; Fig. 12 is a plan of a scale' beam construction and clischarger; Fig. 13 is a fragmentary vertical section showing in detail relative positions of a scale tray and feeder; Fig. 14 is a cros section taken substantially along the line X1V--XIV of Fig. 12; and Fig; 15 is a frag-mentary bottom plan of automatic discharging mechanism.

' In practicing the invention, a supporting frame 20 rigidly carries an electric motor 2| which has its drive shaft 23 extending vertically to support rigidly thereon a peripherally grooved transmission wheel 25 arranged substantially in a horizontal plane. A belt 21, such as a so-called V- belt, is trained about the wheel 25 and about a larger peripherally grooved wheel 29 that is rigidly mounted upon the lower end of a vertical shaft 30. A conventional rbearing 3| formed in the frame 20 rotataibly carries the shaft, and a pinion 32 rigidly mounted upon the upper end of the shaft 30 meshes with a larger gear 34 formed upon the outer circular edge of a rotatable platform 35.

The outer marginal portion of the platform 35 overlaps an inwardly projecting bearing ledge 36 of the frame, and roller bearing elements 31 seated in grooved portions 39 of th ledge and platform facilitate the rotation of the latter about a vertical axis. A centering flange 40 extending downwardly and integrally from the platform is fitted into an annulus defined by the inner edge of the ledge 36.

A series of'weighing scale units 45 are mounted upon pairs of upright stanchions 46 rigidly secured, as indicated at 41, upon the apparatus frame 20 and each scale unit is provided with horizontal knife edge trunnions 48 formed on opposite ends of a cross bar 49. The trunnions rest upon the upper end portions of the stanchions which are recessed to receive them. Each scale unit ha a balancing beam 50 which can be in the form ofa horizontal frame across intermediate portions of which the bar 09 is directly secured. An upright rod 5| having a knife edge 53 supports its upper end upon the outer end of the beam 50 and also supports beam balance elements 55. The lower end of the rod is provided with an adjustable dash pct 54 which includes a cylinder. 56 filled with suitable fluid and secured upon a flange 57 of the machine frame. A piston 59 rigidly secured upon the lower end of the rod 5! his into the cylinder 53 and is provided with openings 60 extending verticall therethrough. A disc GI is formed integrally with an upwardly extending sleeve 63 which fits about the rod 5i and the upper end of the sleeve is screw threaded upon the rod, as indicated at 64. In response to rotation of the sleeve 63 the disc BI is moved toward or awayfrom the upper surface of the piston head 59 to regulate the amount of fluid that can pass through the openings 60 in response to the movement of the piston in the cylinder. Notched balance weights 65 selected according to the weight tobe determined can be remova'bly placed upon the rod 5i and rest upon a collar 65 mounted thereon.

The beam 50 projects inwardly of the apparatus and its inner end has mounted thereon a pair of knife edge supporting blocks 61 which are secured on the beam by means of fasteners 68. Horizontal knife edge trunni-ons 69 formed upon an upper cross bar I of a floating frame II rest in upwardly opening notches I2 in the block 51. This frame is suspended by the trunnions and its lower portion has a pivotal connection I3 securing it to one end of a steadying bar I4 which is.

' frame II remains in a horizontal position regardless of the pivotal action of the beam 50.

Articles 83 to be weighed and classified according to weight can be conveyed by means of a conventional belt conveyor 05 to a position upon a horizontal top 8? prepared for that purpose on the frame 20. An opening 90 in the apparatus frame 07 is so positioned as to expose the horizontal pans 80 of the several scale units and an article 83 can be dropped through the openin 90 upon the pans immediately beneath it. In response to the weight of the article 83 each beam 53 assumes a position according to the weight of the article. If the articles placed upon all of the pans happen to weigh the same, all of the pans will assume a horizontal position at a given level. A plurality of horizontal arms I00 are arranged radially at different levels upon a central vertical shaft IOI which is axially supported upon the platform 35, that is, it is axially arranged with respect to the path of rotation defined by the bearings 31.

Normally in its unloaded position the scale beam 50 assumes an upper position adjacent the apparatus top 81 and the position of the horizontal pan 80 of each scale unit can be gauged by a set screw 02 threaded in the top 87 at such position as to limit upward movement of the beam.

For purposes of illustration, it may be assumed that the difference in level from one arm I00 to an adjacent arm corresponds to the difference in position of the pans as a result of the articles placedon the respective pan differing in weight by one weight unit, for example, one gram. This weight unit can be selected as desired and the scales calibrated accordingly.

Each radially extending arm I00 is provided with a body portion I02 and a horizontal pivotal section I03 which is connected to the body of the arm by means of a vertical pivot pin I04. IA tension spring I05 has one of its ends connected to the outer end of a finger I 06 extending rigidly from the inner end of the section I03 and the other end of the spring is connected to the body of the arm I00. This spring normally presses the base portion of the finger I06 against an abutment I01 of the arm and thereby maintains the sections of the arm in alinement. In case the section I03 strikes an obstruction, it will be pivoted rearwardly with respect to rotation of the platform 35 and shaft I01 which rotation is indicated as being in a clockwise direction (Figs. 1 and 3). The shaft IIII is disposed through the base portion of each arm I00 and the latter can be adjusted vertically and radially or angularly. A set screw I08 threaded through the arm against the shaft facilitates this adjustment.

The section I03 has a slot I09 extending lengthwise thereof from a location adjacent its pivotal connection I04 and outwardly through its end.

The walls of the slot converge rearwardly fromforward sharp edges'I I0 (Fig. 5) defined thereby and terminate in a relatively narrow passage I I2 which is sufficiently wide to receive each scale tray therethrough.

In the rotation of the platform 35, the several arms I00 revolve therewith and the articles placed upon the pans 80 of the scales are pushed therefrom. For example, an article weighing 22 grams will depress the scale pan upon which it is placed to such a position or level that an arm I00 placed in position to push a 22 gram article therefrom will do so. If the pan does not register precisely with the passage I I2, the converging walls leading thereto will guide the pan properly.

An opening H5 in the rotatable platform 35 is formed immediately below each section I03 and passes beneath each pan 8. A chute IIB secured to the lower side of the platform communicates with each opening I I5 and receives articles pushed from the scale pans. Removable containers II'I corresponding in number to the number of arms I00 are placed upon a shelf I III that is rigidly secured to the lower end portion of the vertical-shaft I Ill and rotates therewith. The containers can be marked according to the weight of articles to be received therein. In order to utilize the space surrounding the vertical shaft, the containers can be constructed in the form of segments and placed radially about the shaft IOI. In this arrangement the chutes can be shaped to extend to their proper position for feeding the weighed and sorted articles into the several containers.

An operator can feed articles to the pans through the opening or recessed portion in the top of the frame member or an automatic feeder I30 can be designed according to the structure shown in Figs. 8 to 14. The automatic feeder includes a hopper I31 from which a magazine I34 extends for receiving a series of the articles 83 in stacked relation. Suitable brackets I35 are provided for rigidly securing the hopper and magazine upon the upper portion of the shaft I0 I. The lower end of th magazine, which is rectangular in cross-section is cut away along three sides, as indicated at I36 and a finger I31 mounted.

rigidly upon the stationary top 81 of the frame 20 is adapted to pass through the notched por-.

tion of the magazine at such position of the rotating structure as to push one of the articles from the magazine and deposit it uponthe scale panSO disposed immediately therebeneath. It is to be understood that the inner end. portions of the scales, including the pans 80, project inwardly beyond the top plate edge defined by the recessedportion 90. I With respect to the direction of rotation of the.

. shaft IOI and arms I rotatable-therewith, the

magazine I34 is placed immediately behind the group of armsI 00. That is, the group of arms I 00 pass a given point in their rotation immediately.

prior to the passing thereby of the magazine. One of .the fingers I31 is mounted adjacent each pan 80. and one article is thus deposited .on each pan during one revolution of the platform 35. 'Like-.

wise, articles 83 will be pushed from allof thev pans 80 prior to the next operation of depositing articles thereon.

. Incertain .instances the. weight of the article.

path of movement will be shifted to a position below the stationary finger I31 which otherwise would. interfere with the proper sliding of the article from the pan.

In the construction shown in Figs. 8 to 13 and in connection with the horizontal belt conveyor 85, which in this instance is setback from the outer edge of the stationary frame 20, aninclined belt conveyor I52 is mounted between guides I54 that are rigidly carried upon frame structure I55. The guides rotatably support rolls I56 adjacent their opposite ends to receive the belt I51 upon which the. articles 03 are transported. Worm gearing I60 connected to a shaft 'IiBI of the lo wer roll .and to an upright intermediate shaft I52. serves as transmission mechanism for driving the conveyor I52. The shaft I62 is rotatably mounted upon a bracket I63 that is rigidly carried upon the frame structure =I55. A pulley I65 rigidly secured upon the lower end of the. latter shaft receives a drive belt I61 which corresponds .to.the:be1t 32, but is longer in order to be'trained about the pulle I 65 as well as about the pulleys 23 and 29.

The lower end of the conveyor. i52is disposed justed by a. set screw I99 to. prevent'i'the articles. from being piled one upon another as they. are. transported up the conveyor.. Alsoan inclined plate I carried upon the-guides I 54 adjacent-the 3 IOI as. acenter and diagrammaticallygshown in Fig. 8 are spaced, accordingto the spacing of; the arms I00 and are arranged in such relation that the articles pushed from any of the scales 'by a a particular arm I00 will always fall into the same compartment. That is, each arm has a particular compartment into which it deposits articles of a given weight. .It is to be understood that the arms hopper I3I directs the articles 83 properly into the magazine I34 to be fed from the latter to the scale pans in the manner specified above.

Referring to Figs. 8 to 15, I have shown automatic sorting and collecting mechanisms for the purpose of handling thearticles after theyhave been weighed. A series of compartments I15 defining. an arcuate configuration. about the shaft I00, the-compartments I15, and the platform 35 upon this structure, as indicated in Fig. 11, it will be noted that the partitions I16 separating the compartments have their upper edges spaced con siderably more than their lower edges. The upper edges of these partitions are readily disposed with respect to the center of rotation of the p t o 35 *while their lower edges extend parallel to one another and parallel to the length of the conveyor I80. 'I'he grooves I10 indicate this arrangement, and the lower extremities of these compartments so indicated are shown in broken lines in Fig. 15.

An article collecting and dischargin mechanism I8I includes a T-shaped plate I83 rigidly mounted upon the lower side of the rotatable platform "by means of conventional fastening elementsI84. This mechanism is omitted from the showing in Fig. 11. An arm I85 of the plate has a slot I81 formed at-the outer end thereof to receive a .slidable block I89 that is pivotally connected by means of a bolt I90 to end portions of horizontal links I92. One of these links extends outwardly beyond the bolt an extended cam I 93.

Y Opposite end portions of the head of the T- plate I83 are provided with bolts I94 anchored thereien upon which levers 195' are pivotally mounted intermediate their ends for pivoting horizontally. The inner ends of these levers are pivotallyconnecte'd to the ends of the links I92 by means of bolts I96. A tension spring I91 connected. to the links I92 adjacent the bolts I90 exerts force tending to draw the links toward each other and it maintains the levers abutted against stops I98 rigidly mounted upon the plate I83. End portions of the levers I95 opposite the bolts I96 are provided with circular cams 200 rigidly secured upon the upper sides thereof and such cams fit between recessed portions 20I of a pair of shutter plates 203 arranged in abutting oradjacent, edge to-edge relation. Stop strips 204 secured to the platform adjacent opposite ends of the shutter plates prevent them from being displaced longitudinally, iwhile tension springs 205 connected to the shutter plates adjacent their ends normally'maintain them in closely against the; cams 200 in opposed edge-to-edge relation. The intermediate opposed edges of these plates arewcurved to follow an arc corresponding to the arcv of curvature of the series of compartments I15. These shutter plates fit closely adjacent the lower edges of the compartments I15 and in effect' serve as-bottom structure therefor "to hold all rotateas a unit and hence remain in the same relative 0 positions regardless of the operation of and is in the form of.

temporarily the articles 83 which. have been deposited in the compartments.

A bracket 2 l t mounted rigidly by means of. adjustable fasteners 2! l and 2 [2 upon thelower side of the frame 29 in which the platform is rotatable is provided with a cam surface 2" which is disposed in the path of rotation of the earn 193. When the latter cam strikes the cam surface 214, the circular cams 260 of the levers I95 are actuated inwardly against inclined edges 216 of the shutter plates 293 to spread the latter so that the articles in the compartments I15 are dropped therefrom. A series of chutes -2 l1 registering respectively with the several sections 119 of the conveyor I88 are mounted upon stationary frame supports 218. When the shutters spread or separate to drop the articles, these chutes at the same instant are disposed immediately below the series of revolving compartments H5. Therefore, as the cam 2 l4 actuates the shutter plates 203, during each revolution of the platform 35, the articles that have been sorted and collected in the compartments I15 are discharged at the proper moment through the chutes 2 ll upon the respective sections of the conveyor I80 and according to their weight classification. The articles 83 are thus pushed from the scale pans 80 into the compartments I15 where they are temporarily retained upon the shutter plates 203 which then open at the proper moment to discharge said articles through the chutes 2-H upon the designated areas I19 of the conveyor.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that the several radiallysarranged units or scales 45 are adapted to receive the articles which are sorted according to various Weights thereof, and within narrow limits of weight differentials. It should be noted that the group of arms lull are contained within an angle of less than 180 degrees about the axis of the shaft NH and that the remaining space about the shaft is suificient to permit the placing of the articles upon the scale pans manually, a required with reference to the operation of the apparatus shown in Figs. 1 and 2, between successive revolutions of the rotatable structure. Likewisa'the articlefeeding magazine I34 revolves with the group of arms Hill immediately behind the latter, and, hence, each article is fed to a scale pan only at. a time immediately after the group of arms has passed a given point, on the stationary frame. Also, the rotation of the platform structure is so timed that after the articles have been placed upon the scale pans, there is sufficient time for each pan to settle to such position as to register the article weight correctly before such article is deposited in one of the compartments H5, and

thence through one of the chutes 2 I] to the area N9 of the conveyor which is to receive it.

Although illustrative forms of the invention have been shown and described in detail, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention is not so limited, but that various changes can be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or from the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: 7

1. In an apparatus for sorting articlesaccording to their weight, a driven rotatable structure, a stationary frame supporting said structure about a vertical axis of rotation, an article-containing magazine mounted upon said structure to rotate therewith, a member on said frame past which said magazine rotates to engage artiduring successive revolutions of the magazine, a

tional arms. rotatable with said structure at dif- I ferent levels assumed by the scale pan under varyingweights of articles to push said articles from the pan, the outer section portions of the arms being yieldable backwardly from the direction of rotation, and means to receive separately according to approximate Weight the articles pushed from the pan by each arm.

2. In an apparatus for sorting articles according to their weight, adriven rotatable structure, a stationary frame supporting said structure about a vertical axis of rotation, an article-containing magazine mounted upon said structure to rotate therewith, radially spaced members on said frame past which said magazine rotates to engage articles in the magazine and drop them therefrom during successive revolutions of the magazine, radially spaced weighing mounted on said frame and including a scale pan disposed below and adjacent the respective spaced members to catch articles dropped from the magazine, sectional arms rotatable with said structure at different levels assumed by the scale pans under varying weights of articles to push said articles from, the pans, said arms having inclined guiding surfaces to guide the scale pans Within appreciable variations in levels at approximately the position at which the article of substantially given weight is to be pushed from said pans.

3. In an apparatus for sorting articles according to their weight, a driven rotatable structure, a stationary frame supporting said structure about a vertical axis of rotation, an article containing magazine mounted upon said structure to rotate therewith, a series of members disposed radially on the frame adjacent the rotatable structure and past which said magazine rotates to engage articles in the magazine and drop them therefrom during successive revolutions of the magazine, a series of weighing scales mounted on said frame each including a scale pan disposed below said members to catch articles dropped from the magazine, arms arranged radially on said structure at different levels according to the levels assumed by the scale pans under varying weights of articles to push said articles from the pans, sorting compartments rotatable with said structure and arranged radially thereon below the respective arms to receive articles pushed off the pans by said arms, and means for releasing articles from the bottom of the compartments at a predetermined position in the path of rotation of said structure.

4. In an apparatus for sorting articles according to their Weight, a driven rotatable structure, a stationary frame supporting said structure about a vertical axis of rotation, an article-containing magazine mounted upon said structure to rotate therewith, a series of members disposed radially on the frame adjacent the rotatable structure and past which said magazine rotates to engage articles in the magazine and drop them therefrom during successive revolutions of the magazine, a series of weighing scales mounted on said frame each including a scale pan disposed below said members to catch articles dropped from the magazine, arms arranged radiallyon said structure at different levels according to levels assumed by the scale pans under varying cles in the magazine and drop them therefrom weights of articles to push said articles from the scales pans, sorting compartments rotatable with said structure and arranged radially thereon below the respective arms to receive articles pushed off the pans by said arms, shutters constituting bottoms of the compartments, and coacting means on the structure and compartments for opening and closing the latter in response to rotation ofsaid structure.

5. In an apparatus for sortingarticles according to their weight, a driven rotatable structure, a stationary frame supporting said structure about a vertical axis of rotation, an article-containing magazine mounted upon said structure to rotate therewith, a series of members disposed radially on the frame adjacent the rotatable structure and past which said magazine rotates to engage articles in the magazine and drop them therefrom during successive revolutions of the magazine, a series of weighing scales mounted on said frame each including'a scale pan disposed below said members to catch articles dropped from the magazine, arms arranged radially on said structure at difierent levels according to levels assumed by the scale pans under varying weights of articles to push said articles from the pans, sorting compartments rotatable with said structure and arranged radially thereon below the respective arms to receive articles pushed off the pans by said arms, shutters secured slidably against the lower sides of said compartments to open and close the bottoms thereof, an actuating mechanism rotatable with said structure and engaging at least one of said shutters, and a-sta tionary element in the path of rotation of said mechanism and responsive to rotation thereof to actuate the shutters in their opening and closing action.

i 6. In an apparatus for sorting articles according to their weight, a driven rotatable structure, a stationary frame supporting said structure about a vertical axis of rotation, a series of weighing scales arranged radially about the rotatable structure and mounted on the stationary frame, said scales having articles receivin pans extending over the rotatable structure, an articlecontaining magazine mounted on said structure to rotate therewith, a series of members on the frame adjacent the respective scales for successively discharging articles-from the magazine to the scale pans as the magazine passes said members, a series of compartments arranged radially in the rotatable structure, elements mounted radially on said structure above the compartments at different levels according to levels assumed by saidscale pans under varying weights of articles to push the latter from the pans into the compartments, a conveyor past which the structure rotates, and discharge mechanism associated with the compartments and stationary frame and responsive to rotation of said structure to discharge the articles in classified groups on the conveyor as the compartments pass said conveyor.

7. In an apparatus for sorting articles according to their weight, a driven rotatable structure, a stationary frame supporting said structure about a vertical axis 'of rotation, a series of weighing scales mounted on said frame and spaced radially around the axis of rotation of said structure, each scale having an article receiving pan movable to diiferent levels according to weights of articles placed thereon to be weighed,

said supporting frame having an upper centrally recessed portion above the rotatable structure and through which articles to be weighed can be fed to the scale pans, arms arranged radially on said structure at different levels according to the levels assumed by the scale pans under varying weights of articles to push said articles from the pans, sorting compartments rotatable with said structure and arranged below the respective arms to receive articles pushed off the pans by said arms, and means for releasing articles from the bottom of the compartments at a predetermined position in the path of rotation of said structure.

WILLIAM OWEN. 

